Guys
I thought I would clarify some things here. "Zero to Hero" has always been suggested as someone who has no experience with this style or type of diving (cave) and goes to cave country on Monday and by that Sunday (7 days straight) are full cave certified. That is not, and has never been, UTD's philosophy. So let's not twist and weave the meaning of zero to hero and/or the UTD programs around to seem negative. We already know the two of you (Litehedded and UCFdiver) are WKKP divers and supporters and therefore have a bone to pick with UTD, and you will do and find what ever you can to twist words and bash anyone who reports on a UTD class or supports UTD. Let's rather discuss this factually and help others learn from Shawn's experience, which is what the intent of the Class Report was about. Not that he would receive the standard bashing dished out by the same two individuals.
In our
standards and procedures you will notice that in order to complete a full cave certification(Cave Diver - part 1 & 2), one may take a minimum of 12 days of training with intervals of experience between each step (Essentials, OHP, Cave 1, Cave 2.) Those intervals are recommended at 25 dives. However, some students may need more and some less. No one can and should be restricted to an exact amount as divers vary and this is not a set of check boxes but rather requires an individual approach to each student's training and learning path. Let's look at Shawn's training path, he started his cave path by taking a
essentials of ... class which is a 3 day preparatory class giving him the foundational skills he needs to build the rest of his diving career. These are based and rooted in cave skills. So trim, propulsion, basic 6, s-drill, valve drill and so on. Then Shawn spent 6 + months building these foundational skills and developing his ability to be controlled in the water. He then went on to take the 3 day
Overhead Protocols Class, which is again a class based on taking the overhead protocols and skills that can be conducted and built outside of an overhead environment and developing and building them in a local watering hole. So line laying/retrieval, Line Following, Black Out work on the line, valve failure, team failures, broken line and so on. Then several months of practice and many training dives later he decided to take his
cave 1 and
cave 2 together in Mexico. Probably feeling confident with his skills and abilities outside of the cave, Shawn decided to attempt Cave 1 and 2 together. We allow one to combine any two of the 4 - 3 days programs together although we recommend them to be done separately with experience dives in between. So one can do Essential/Over head protocols or Overhead Protocols/Cave 1 or Cave 1/ Cave 2. Although I cannot speak for Shawn, what Shawn learned here is that like many who take UTD classes, you must EARN your certification and just because you paid, does not mean you pass. He went there to achieve his full cave certification and after several days of class found his limitations, coming to that conclusion by himself and with his instructor. He then received a certification that is appropriate for his ability at this time, giving him the ability to go and practice to his level, gain experience as needed and ultimately achieve his goal as a cave diver in the future. Rather than pigeon hole'ing someone and/or telling them they cannot or are not good enough, the training and class showed him his limitation and therefore he has gained at greater respect for that.
In conclusion, I would say the last thing we (UTD) have is a zero to hero program. In fact quite the opposite. At the same time we do allow (inclusive) divers who can attain and achieve their level of certification, prove it and achieve it without road blocking them, pigeon hole'ing them or having them start all over again from the bottom.
Andrew
